LINGUIST List 13.623

Thu Mar 7 2002

Qs: Semantics: "Literal", EFL Copy Books

Editor for this issue: Karen Milligan <karenlinguistlist.org>

We'd like to remind readers that the responses to queries are usually
best posted to the individual asking the question. That individual is
then strongly encouraged to post a summary to the list. This policy was
instituted to help control the huge volume of mail on LINGUIST; so we
would appreciate your cooperating with it whenever it seems appropriate.
In addition to posting a summary, we'd like to remind people that it
is usually a good idea to personally thank those individuals who have
taken the trouble to respond to the query.

I am an undergraduate student at Brigham Young University majoring in
Linguistics. For part of my Honors thesis, I have decided to study
the meaning of the word 'literal,' because it is a word that seems to
be used often in linguistic literature and textbooks, but is rarely
completely defined. I have conducted a statistical analysis on
examples polled from the internet using Google as the search engine.
Although this analysis is mainly focused on the current uses of the
word 'literal' in mainstream language use, I am also very interested
in the uses of the word in the linguistic academic setting. If you
know of any paper or discussion addressing this topic, I would be very
interested in it. More importantly, however, I am interested in
getting the opinions of linguists. I would like to know if the word
'literal' is considered a problem word in academic circles, what its
meaning is commonly held to be, and any opinions linguists might have
on the use of the word. At the end of my paper, I hope to make some
statements on how mainstream uses of the word affect its academic
uses, but I would like to get a clearer picture of what effects they
are having right now. Any other feedback, encouragement, criticism,
or advice would be welcome. I will post a summary of the responses.
And I will also post my conclusions in my paper at the end of the
study.
Thank you!
Sarah Stevens